AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Desktop Processor Review

The Ryzen 5 7600X is the latest iteration of AMD’s midrange champ with a designated MSRP of $299.99 USD (₱19,500 PHP locally). Compared to the recent releases, this one is tailor made to fit the needs of AMD’s latest AM5 platform and chipsets featuring a new socket design and the much awaited support for both the PCIe 5.0 interface and DDR5 memory.

Specification wise, the Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core processor with 12 logical cores or threads. Base frequency is at 4.7 GHz while its maximum boost clock is rated at 5.3 GHz – all while maintaining a 105 W TDP.

Disclosure: AMD sent the Ryzen 5 7600X for the purpose of this review. The company did not ask me to say anything particular about it.

• Product Page: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Desktop Processor
• Price: $299.99 USD (Amazon)/₱19,500 PHP (Lazada)
• Release Date: Q4 2022

Technical Specifications

CPU
Core/Thread	6 cores/12 threads
Base/Boost Clock	4.7 GHz/5.3 GHz
Architecture	Raphael
Manufacturing Process	TSMC 5 nm FinFET
TDP	105 W
Memory
Memory Speed	52000 MT/s
Memory Channels	2
Memory Capacity	128 GB
Memory Type	DDR5
Connectivity
PCI Express	PCIe 5.0
PCI Express Lanes	28 (24 usable)
Dimensions
Length	40 mm
Width	30 mm
Height	8 mm
Weight	104 grams (package)

Packaging and Accessories

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X comes in a slim boxed processor packaging. All their X series desktop processors does not come with boxed coolers so there’s that as the sole reason for such a small packaging.

The package comes with the following items inside:

• AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Desktop Processor
• Installation guide
• AMD Ryzen case badge

Nothing out of place here.

Design, Layout and Connectivity

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is one of the many new AM5 platform processors featuring an LGA design. That said, this is a pin-less processor similar to what Intel have done with their processors and AMD’s own Threadripper processors. Also contrary to the designs of old, all AMD AM5 processors comes with a thick IHS design. If removed, you’d see a 5 nm chiplet here for the CPU and a larger single 6 nm I/O Die responsible for the DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 interfaces.

Unlike Intel’s LGA design, AMD sure saturated the bottom end with contact points for the AM5 socket. AMD managed to do this by placing the decoupling capacitors at the top side of the IHS – hence its unique design.

The LGA based AM5 socket latches like your typical Intel LGA 1XXX processor. In true AMD fashion though, compatibility with AM4 coolers is almost always certain due to the familiar plastic retention arms. Almost, since this new socket is secured to the backplate via torx screws. That said, if you have an AM4 compatible cooler that requires its own backplate for installation, you are out of luck.

Test Setup and Methodology

Our test setup relies on the measurements taken from industry standard benchmark tools and real-world applications. It is important to note that we are testing the review sample after burn-in, with at least 24-hours of uptime. This is done so to negate the FOTB (fresh out the box) state of the DUT (device under test), yielding better benchmarking consistency.

Test System Specifications
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
Motherboard	GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Master
Cooler	Noctua NH-U12S Redux
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 16 GB
GPU	GALAX RTX 2060 EX White 6 GB
Storage	Kingston FURY Renegade 2 TB
Case	Mechanical Library JXK-K2
PSU	Thermaltake Toughpower PF1 850 W
Display	LG UF680T
OS	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

The DUT is tested with the following configuration from our test system:

• UEFI configuration: Default
• Windows Power Plan: Balanced

We were told that we have to provide a little shout out to the Kingston KC3000 PCIe 4.0 SSD. I must be honest that I did not use the kit for this review since I am aiming to use my usual test system components. That said, we used the tried and tested Kingston FURY Renegade PCIe 4.0 SSD instead. :)

Arithmetic

Pi calculation speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via SuperPI.

Roots calculation speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via WPrime.

The Ryzen 5 7600X comes with an excellent single core performance output via SuperPI, even outpacing the Intel Core i9-12900K at the said benchmark. At wPrime however, it is out classed by the pricier Intel model but not much by its direct competitor, the Core i5-12600KF. Remember that the Core i5-2600KF we got here has a DDR4-3600 memory kit so actual difference in performance will surely vary. Best comparison we actually got here are the results between the Ryzen 5 7600X versus the Core i9-12900K at DDR5-4800.

3D Rendering

Cinema 4D score is measured in Points (pts). This is done via Cinebench R20.

V-Ray 5 score is measured in V-Ray samples (vSamples). This is done via V-Ray 5 Benchmark.

3D rendering benchmarks shows that the Ryzen 5 7600X is faster compared to the Core i5-12600KF at V-Ray but not exactly the case at Cinebench. Again, note that we’ve tested the said Intel CPU with DDR4 memory so it is not a direct comparison.

Digital Content Creation

Image editing speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via RealBench and its built-in GIMP benchmark.

Video encoding speed is measured in Seconds (s).This is done via RealBench and its built-in HandBrake benchmark.

Now looking at GIMP, it is safe to assume that the Ryzen 5 7600X really likes high frequency memory. The same thing could be said with HandBrake, comparing its DDR5-4800 to its DDR5-6000 results.

Web Browsing

Web browsing speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via PCMark 10 and its built-in Chromium benchmark.

Web browsing speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via PCMark 10 and its built-in Firefox benchmark.

Our browser related benchmarks are mostly uneventful with the exception of the Ryzen 5 7600X and DDR5-6000 combined.

Office Productivity

Productivity speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via PCMark 10 and its built-in LibreOffice Writer benchmark. The test aims to check the speed of loading documents.

Productivity speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via PCMark 10 and its built-in LibreOffice Calc benchmark. The test aims to check the speed of copying data and compute.

Now office productivity results were a bit of a mixed bag with the 7600X. We got excellent LibreOffice Writer results here while nothing much has changed at the LibreOffice Calc regardless of memory speed.

Compression

Compression speed is measured in Kilobyte per Second (KB/s). This is done via WinRAR and its built-in benchmark.

Instruction speed is measured in Giga-Instructions per Second (GIPS). This is done via 7-Zip and its built-in benchmark.

Our compression benchmarks shows that going from DDR5-4800 to DDR5-6000 nets a huge gain.

Gaming

Frame rate is measured in Frames per Second (FPS). This is done via Final Fantasy XVI: Endwalker and its official benchmark. The test aims to check the 1% low FPS performance.

Frame rate is measured in Frames per Second (FPS). This is done via Sid Meier’s Civilization VI and its built-in benchmark. The test aims to check the 1% low FPS performance.

Gaming performance is pretty good, even better compared to the Core i9-12900K based on these two benchmarks alone. Your mileage may vary though depending on titles requiring more cores. That said, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X just had that single core performance advantage over the Intel models we’ve got on the test bench.

Thermals

Temperature is measured in degree Celcius (ºC) at system idle and load. This is done via AIDA64 Extreme and its System Stability Test.

Thermal output is pretty decent considering our air cooler and its maximum operating temperature at 95 ºC. We rarely go past 90 ºC for the duration of our stress test even with AVX turned on. Still, I would consider a liquid cooler for the Ryzen 5 7600X.

Power

System power consumption is measured in Watts (ºC) at system idle and load. This is done via AIDA64 Extreme and its System Stability Test.

Now power consumption is a significant jump over the Ryzen 5 3600 which is acceptable for its performance output and its TDP of 105 W. Remember that the Ryzen 5 3600 has a TDP of 65 W so the extra 50 W or so is justified.

Features

The Ryzen 5 7600X is based on the Zen 4 architecture, featuring a 5 nm process, support for PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory. Not only that, the Ryzen 7000 series is the first in AMD’s arsenal to receive a new socket design – hence the AM5 platform. This new platform replaces the AM4, finally accepting LGA over PGA designs of the past.

The Ryzen 5 7600X also comes with an integrated AMD Radeon Graphics (usually denoted in G) which is a first to the X series Ryzen processors. I did not test this as I have learned about it just as I was browsing my benchmark screenshots. That said, you may head over to Youtube from some graphics benchmarks.

Also a first is the support for AMD EXPO which is basically an improved XMP/AMP memory profiles tailor made for either the X670/650 chipsets. I have tested several kits here and EXPO certified ones are almost always certain to be faster at the same speed rating. Of course, there are still timings and binned chips to consider here but you get the idea.

Final Thoughts

Now that we’ve tested the Ryzen 5 7600X, we’ve come into conclusion that AMD wont give Intel any leeway when it comes to releasing platforms and architectures to support the latest PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 interfaces. While it wont beat Intel’s latest in most multi-threaded benchmarks, The Ryzen 5 7600X actually has a faster single core performance over its direct competitor, the Core i5-12600K and even over the Intel Core i9-12900K. Again, take our benchmarks with the Core i5-12600KF with a grain of salt due to the memory kit we used on it while we had the chance to test it.

Speaking, what I find missing is the support for DDR4 interface. I guess AMD is just dedicated on a forward looking approach with the AM5 platform in mind. This has to be expected though since the AM4 platform has been around for more than 7 years already.

In closing, the Ryzen 5 7600X comes with a $299.99 USD MSRP – a fitting price for a midrange to enthusiast level desktop processor. Sure, it has a higher TDP along with a higher operating temperature compared to the generation it replaced but the performance gain is well worth it.